Iger is back and Chapek is out...

[revdon64]

This is news to me. What are you referring to specifically about Iger? I can't say I had many qualms with the parks in the past decade pre Covid/Chapek.

Dan

Think about how slowly everything moves at Disney. Now take into account that Chapek has only been the CEO for two or two and a half years. G+ is widely despised and almost certainly conceptualized under Iger's leadership. Who decided to discontinue ME? Charge resort guests to park their cars? The EPCOT makeover wasn't Chapek's idea, and wouldn't you rather have the Fountain of Nations instead of more festival spaces? And my Lord, who gets the credit for taking all the interactive elements out of Galaxy's Edge and putting them in a "land cruise ship experience?" Especially when that thing is now tanking just like most of us expected.

These things can pretty much all be laid at Iger's feet. Chapek, while certainly no saint in the situation, is little more than the fall guy.

 

[DisneyFive]

One trip was April and one was October.

April 2021 were 2's and 3's out of 10
October 2021 were 1's and 2's (and an occasional 3) out of 10

When we went July 2021 it was 5's - 7's.

That was a nightmare for lines. The system felt broken with everything standby only. It just wasn't enjoyable. We had to make the most of it

Lately (mid-late 2022) it's 5-8's mostly. It's a different ballgame.

Unfortunately your standby experience doesn't exist anymore, and hasn't for some time now. We could only wish that the parks were as empty as you were lucky enough to experience.

Dan

 

[DisneyFive]

Think about how slowly everything moves at Disney. Now take into account that Chapek has only been the CEO for two or two and a half years. G+ is widely despised and almost certainly conceptualized under Iger's leadership. Who decided to discontinue ME? Charge resort guests to park their cars? The EPCOT makeover wasn't Chapek's idea, and wouldn't you rather have the Fountain of Nations instead of more festival spaces? And my Lord, who gets the credit for taking all the interactive elements out of Galaxy's Edge and putting them in a "land cruise ship experience?" Especially when that thing is now tanking just like most of us expected.

These things can pretty much all be laid at Iger's feet. Chapek, while certainly no saint in the situation, is little more than the fall guy.

All I know is that my years visiting the parks under Iger were better than under Chapek. The seeming monetizing of everything possible is driving us to look elsewhere due to the absorbent cost of a WDW vacation now. That is their intention though. Control crowds with price, and get the highest margin they can per guest. Can't deny that, but it also has the repercussions of loss (or less frequent visits) of diehards like us.

That's speculation regarding who's lap the ideation of G+ falls under, right? I lament the loss of DME which was announced and stopped under Chapek. Resort parking fees were a money grab as well and that was Iger, but never impacted us. I like the Epcot changes a lot except for the eyesore barges in the lake. Epcot was LONG overdue for an overhaul. I'm happy with Galaxy's Edge as is and not sure I need interactive experiences there.

 

[Jonfw2]

Way too early to make any judgments on Iger, but the mission statement- to put all major decisions back in the hands of Creative- bodes very well.

 

[RamblingMad]

Iger has already axed Chapek's plan for another Disney+ price increase, even though Disney+ is bleeding money. And right there lies the difference between the two Bobs. I doubt we'll see a substantial change in the parks, but it's nice to see someone at the helm who actually loves Disney as a company, and not someone who just cares about the bottom line. Welcome back Mr. Iger.

My bet is that he pulls back spending on D+ content. Probably the same content with fewer dollars spent per movie and per episode.

 

[DisneyFive]

My bet is that he pulls back spending on D+ content. Probably the same content with fewer dollars spent per movie and per episode.

I've been struggling for the last 6 months or so to justify the current monthly price I'm paying for D+. There just isn't enough solid new content like we are seeing with Netflix especially.

 

[Jrb1979]

I've been struggling for the last 6 months or so to justify the current monthly price I'm paying for D+. There just isn't enough solid new content like we are seeing with Netflix especially.

IMO is why I think streaming will never be a huge profitable thing. People only want streaming for new content not the old stuff.

 

[Jrb1979]

Way too early to make any judgments on Iger, but the mission statement- to put all major decisions back in the hands of Creative- bodes very well.

Agree for the studios side of things but I don't think much will change for the parks. Genie+ is not going away.

 

[DisneyFive]

IMO is why I think streaming will never be a huge profitable thing. People only want streaming for new content not the old stuff.

Yeah, things would be different if our kids were still little and they could watch the same shows over and over again. Then the non current titles had solid value. Now, not so much

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah, things would be different if our kids were still little and they could watch the same shows over and over again. Then the non current titles had solid value. Now, not so much

For my family we don't have much time for streaming. I work steady afternoons and have a 3 year old. After work I just watch sports highlights. Days we are too busy for binge watching. I don't know how people have time to watch so much

 

[TCRAIG]

April 2021 were 2's and 3's out of 10
October 2021 were 1's and 2's (and an occasional 3) out of 10

When we went July 2021 it was 5's - 7's.

That was a nightmare for lines. The system felt broken with everything standby only. It just wasn't enjoyable. We had to make the most of it

Lately (mid-late 2022) it's 5-8's mostly. It's a different ballgame.

Unfortunately your standby experience doesn't exist anymore, and hasn't for some time now. We could only wish that the parks were as empty as you were lucky enough to experience.

Dan

I went July of 21 as well - we did not encounter long standby lines - in my opinion - it was still way better than lines now with G+…

 

[Cfabar1]

Disney+ has had remarkable growth…. People are buying it, and seem to be sticking around (subscribership is growing). Hulu is also doing EXTREMELY well… Netflix isn’t nearly as buzzy as it was a few years ago…

Disney has been smart to realize the Disney Bundle is their key to success. I do think Disney+ and these other offerings are going nowhere…. I do question Disney’s decisions in terms of what is Hulu material and what is Genie+ material, and would prefer an app called for example “Touchstone”, which would include Hulu & Disney material integrated together, and allow for parental controls. There are some shows on Disney+ for example, I would not feel comfortable my young child watching. Keep the Disney+ side to super family friendly fare, and then allow for parental toggles for some of the other material - SW when age appropriate, Marvel when age appropriate, etc.

 

[wabbott]

My bet is that he pulls back spending on D+ content. Probably the same content with fewer dollars spent per movie and per episode.

Chapek has said ever since D+ came about that he would spend whatever it takes to make it work. We all know that to Hollywood types, that is a license to spend without end. I suspect that is exactly what happened.

 

[Cfabar1]

Chapek has said ever since D+ came about that he would spend whatever it takes to make it work. We all know that to Hollywood types, that is a license to spend without end. I suspect that is exactly what happened.

Part of the problem is not culling the herd…. Approving too many projects... Did Big Shot really need a second season? And a massive promotional budget With billboards? I get that the pitch was probably “Glee with less singing and more basketball”… Not a bad show, but difficult to envision people signing up for Disney+ just to keep it… WB made the same mistake… Also, to be fair, COVID messed up the model since no one was going to movie theatres. That trend is, thankfully, changing. Hulu seems to have been more strategic in what they approve Prestige Products designed to garner big interest/acclaim like Only Murders…., Nine perfect strangers, etc. Shows with a built in audience - Orville, Veronica Mars, etc.

 

[RamblingMad]

Chapek has said ever since D+ came about that he would spend whatever it takes to make it work. We all know that to Hollywood types, that is a license to spend without end. I suspect that is exactly what happened.

They could put out more content and spend less on the content. Right now, their production values are much greater than their peers by a lot.

 

[wabbott]

They could put out more content and spend less on the content. Right now, their production values are much greater than their peers by a lot.

"If you build it, they will come" became "If you give it to them, they will spend it."

 

[lowlight]

I see a lot of people saying Iger is going to focus on streaming and keep parks as they are, but I'm not sure. They've said that parks are their reliable income source. I'm not sure what Iger can do to fix Disney+, at least as far as profitability goes. Streaming could have been the future of television, and instead it became a dysfunctional tech dystopia because every corporation wanted their own exclusive piece of the pie. Very few (read: none) companies have enough solid IP and bandwidth to reliably create new quality IP in the future to sustain their own streaming platform, but they all want to be greedy and not license their content to one another. Netflix with Disney content was as close as we will likely ever get. Instead of fixing the issues of cable TV, they created 20 different versions of cable TV that all suck.

Then Disney chooses to try to increase the cost of Disney+ almost 30% per month while offering nothing but a "throw it on the wall and see what sticks" selection of new shows. I don't mean to offend anyone, but almost all the new shows Disney+ has put out in the past year are garbage (in my opinion, calm down!), resting on the laurels of their ancestral IP, most of it purchased from other companies (Star Wars, Marvel). I don't want to watch the 18th Star Wars universe show that sucks, nor do I want another silly superhero movie. Neither do my kids, they don't watch any of it. I'm sure that Iger can facilitate quality shows being produced, but likely not at a rate that will prevent churn as people watch Disney+ for a month to watch a new show and cancel it because of the hefty monthly price tag. Even the king, Netflix, fell once everyone nabbed back their own IP for their own streaming platform. Tech gets hit hard in recessions, so it'll be interesting to watch if he can be successful.

 

[MamaBelle4]

All I really watch is Disney +, Hulu and Discovery +. I know that's not the point of this thread, but there's so much to watch on those three, I don't even really access pur other streaming services.

 

[tink2424]

April 2021 were 2's and 3's out of 10
October 2021 were 1's and 2's (and an occasional 3) out of 10

When we went July 2021 it was 5's - 7's.

That was a nightmare for lines. The system felt broken with everything standby only. It just wasn't enjoyable. We had to make the most of it

Lately (mid-late 2022) it's 5-8's mostly. It's a different ballgame.

Unfortunately your standby experience doesn't exist anymore, and hasn't for some time now. We could only wish that the parks were as empty as you were lucky enough to experience.

Dan

While you are partly right I think that overall the fastpasses/G+ or whatever lead to a more frustrating experience for everyone. It works better when the line just moves. But the other big issue is that Disney is not staffing or running the rides to full capacity. Some of them are but most rides are not up to where they need to be (ie; running all the cars available). IF they did that the lines would move much quicker.

Additionally having all the rides open and all the shows going would make a huge difference. When one headliner goes down it just adds congestion to the other lines.

Overall your comparisons aren't just a 1:1 comparison.

 

[RamblingMad]

I see a lot of people saying Iger is going to focus on streaming and keep parks as they are, but I'm not sure. They've said that parks are their reliable income source. I'm not sure what Iger can do to fix Disney+, at least as far as profitability goes. Streaming could have been the future of television, and instead it became a dysfunctional tech dystopia because every corporation wanted their own exclusive piece of the pie. Very few (read: none) companies have enough solid IP and bandwidth to reliably create new quality IP in the future to sustain their own streaming platform, but they all want to be greedy and not license their content to one another. Netflix with Disney content was as close as we will likely ever get. Instead of fixing the issues of cable TV, they created 20 different versions of cable TV that all suck.

Then Disney chooses to try to increase the cost of Disney+ almost 30% per month while offering nothing but a "throw it on the wall and see what sticks" selection of new shows. I don't mean to offend anyone, but almost all the new shows Disney+ has put out in the past year are garbage (in my opinion, calm down!), resting on the laurels of their ancestral IP, most of it purchased from other companies (Star Wars, Marvel). I don't want to watch the 18th Star Wars universe show that sucks, nor do I want another silly superhero movie. Neither do my kids, they don't watch any of it. I'm sure that Iger can facilitate quality shows being produced, but likely not at a rate that will prevent churn as people watch Disney+ for a month to watch a new show and cancel it because of the hefty monthly price tag. Even the king, Netflix, fell once everyone nabbed back their own IP for their own streaming platform. Tech gets hit hard in recessions, so it'll be interesting to watch if he can be successful.

There is no reason to change the parks until the vacancy numbers start to drop. I'm sure they'll discount and go back to the old days for stuff once a recession hits.